EMIGRATION FROM SWEDKN 15 



region is situated opposite the Baltic coast of Gotaland and has from the very 

 earliest times been connected with it along one of the main routes from south and 

 central Europe to the north, the route along the Vistula. It is therefore quite 

 natural that a horde emigrating from the Swedish Baltic coast should, in choosing 

 the direction of their journey, often decide on the Prussian region, which was 

 fertile and inhabited by a not very warlike people. 



What were the causes of this Scandinavian emigration, which was to have 

 so radical a significance for the fate of Europe and the world? 



Before proceeding to answer this question I shall try to explain some ideas 

 and terms that are often used in an indistinct and misleading fashion. By 

 a tribal emigration I mean here a removal of a people in which the male population 

 or part of this from a whole district or country leave their native place 

 in a collected troop together with their wives, children and property in order to 

 try to maintain themselves in a foreign land. The Viking bands are only tribal emi* 

 gration to a slight extent. In most cases the Vikings were a larger or smaller 

 band of warriors who wen toff on trading and plundering expeditions in the spring, 

 returning home towards the autumn with their earnings and the booty. Sometimes 

 th,e Viking adventures might extend to real campaigns lasting several years; many 

 thousands of men took part in these and their purpose was to capture spoils, levy 

 forced contributions, or to suppress the countries they attacked. This was the 

 character of the Danish invasions of France in the middle and second half of the 

 9th century. In these cases it was exclusively or essentially warriors who took 

 part in the journeys. It may happen of course that individuals or larger bands 

 settle down in the lands they visit, take wives in the foreign country, and arrange 

 for a long, perhaps a permanent, stay. But this is not yet tribal migration in the 

 real sense of the term. The first real instance of this is when the Vikings settle 

 down in the conquered country with their families, as for instance the Danes 

 did in the east and north of England in the second half of the 9th century or 

 the Norwegians did at the same time in the Hebrides, Orkneys and in Ireland. 



It was principally only hordes of warlike young men who took part in the 

 Viking campaigns. The chief purpose of these enterprises was war and, if I may 

 put it so, private finance. And after a successful conclusion the participants 

 returned to their homes. As the causes of the Viking expeditions modern historians 

 give chiefly the overpopulation of the North and the desire for spoils and ad* 

 venture in the male population. This view also agrees with the accounts given 

 by contemporary western writers. Only in exceptional cases were the Viking ex< 

 peditions real emigrations, carried out for this purpose. 



The term overpopulation also needs a few words of explanation. A country 

 may become overpopulated in different ways. One way is when the number of 

 people reach or exceed the normal limit of the country's power to give its in< 

 habitants a bare subsistence at a certain stage of culture. One might call this 

 type of overpopulation chronic. Another type is temporary. It arises when a 

 country's production of the necessities of life is suddenly lowered by unfavourable 

 climatic or other conditions to such an extent that the people are affected by a 

 scarcity of what is necessary to maintain life. According to the now prevalent 

 opinion chronic overpopulation was the main cause of the Viking expeditions. 



